Voices against Violence comes to the Western Hemisphere region

On 17th October, nearly 50 Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from 11 countries, focused mainly in the Western Hemisphere region, will bring their passion, enthusiasm and commitment on ending violence against girls and young women to New York, USA.

Despite all UN Member States signing on to the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action in 1995, which contained a progressive set of
commitments to end violence against women and girls, we still live in a world
where 6 out of every 10 girls and women will experience some form of violence
in their lifetime[1]. Girls everywhere live in daily fear of violence, whether that’s sexual harassment at school or the risk of child marriage at home. In the United States, 83 per cent of girls in grades 8 through 11 (aged 12 to 16) have experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools[2] while women and girls constitute 80 per cent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually, with the majority trafficked for sexual exploitation[3].

WAGGGS believes that education is the best tool we have
to combat this issue, as only preventing it before it happens will save lives
and allow girls to reach their full potential. The Voices against Violence
curriculum, produced in partnership with UN Women, is co-educational and uses
WAGGGS’ unique non-formal learning method to empower young people to claim
their rights and say no to violence. It allows young men to deconstruct the
harmful masculinities that place them in a position of power over girls and
young women, and empowers girls to realise their true value.

The trainers who attend this ACTIVATE
event are the first step to supporting Member Organisations to create real
change in their communities. Such a complex issue takes time to challenge, as
it requires learned behaviours to change and a process of individuals
recognising their own biases and stereotypes. This is why the ACTIVATE process
is so important – it provides a safe space where the trainers can question
their own assumptions and start to recognise myths and harmful beliefs without
fear of reprisal, and then ensure these discriminatory social norms are not
condoned at a national level.

Although our current funding from Zonta International has enabled us to have
already trained 15 Member Organisations at two previous ACTIVATE events, we are
only at the beginning of a long-term process of social change. It’s with
excitement, but also apprehension that ten Stop the Violence Lead Facilitators
arrive in New York, as the thought of 800,000 young people eventually taking
part in this life-changing curriculum is awe-inspiring, however it can sometimes
also be hard to believe that what’s being done by Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
will make any sort of real impact. As one inspirational female scientist once
said, though: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.[4]”

Good luck to all Lead Facilitators and participants – you
are true agents of change!

Join them on this journey:

From 2 – 2:30pm EST on Wednesday 21st
October tweet questions to @WAGGGSDelegates
and the participants will respond

Keep an eye out for 16 Days of Activism against
Gender-based Violence materials which will support your own small steps of
social change from 25th November – 10th December